Product and Style Tips

Colors set the tone for an entire room. You could have pristine furniture and painstakingly arrange it to perfection, but if the hues are drab, jarring or clash just a little, it's likely that your efforts will go unnoticed. Picking a color palette can be tough, but it can also be fun! Here are some tips for selecting what hues to decorate with.

1. Use your favorite color
While using your pigment of choice ceiling to floor in every room isn't always the best idea, monochromatic decor when done correctly is a bold and modern choice, and seeing your favorite color throughout a room can be uplifting. You can keep it from overwhelming the eye by varying shades and textures and using a neutral accent color. For example, if you're painting your walls blue, consider using bamboo window shades to break it up while still allowing the hue to take center stage, and find furniture with upholstered cushions and wooden legs. Alternate the visual textures of the room by using patterns that primarily feature blue, and switch up the textiles that you're decorating with to create interest. One way of doing this is by putting canvas covers on the pillows that top a suede couch, and using a knit throw to pull it together.

2. Determine a mood
Another way to go about picking a color scheme is to follow a feeling. If you want your bedroom to be tranquil, use colors that have been proven to calm, such as light grays and blues. Choose a main color, like a hazy blue, and find the pigment in lighter and darker shades. By decorating with mostly the darker colors, you'll create a more dramatic environment, and by going primarily lighter, perhaps with white walls, your space will look more airy.

For a vibrant look, consider warm shades like yellow and orange, and use natural materials as an accent.

3. Glean inspiration
Using a furnishing or piece of art to establish a palette is often a good idea - if you enjoy a color scheme on a rug or custom window treatment, chances are you'll enjoy it when it's carried through the rest of the room. Pick which hue you want to be the dominant color and use it to paint the walls, and choose others as accents or neutrals in moldings, furnishings and other accessories. Inspiration can also be found in antique items, not for their exact color, but for the atmosphere that they cultivate. A vintage chair in a moody, deep purple could serve as a starting point for creating your custom palette.

4. Try trends
If you're repainting to refresh a tired room, try using colors that have shown up in droves on the runway and are then reflected in popular interior design. This season, fiery hues are in vogue, such as lemon yellow, nectarine orange and poppy red. The yellow looks great in an airy room that features a lot of white, and when used in the form of pillows, small accessories such as picture frames and with floral arrangements. It can also be used in large quantities, such as in cellular shades and wallpaper. When using bold colors like nectarine and poppy red that don't always match other hues, concentrate them on the accents of a room in order to give yourself more freedom when decorating the rest of the space.